


please, won’t you let me go?

by oldpapertowns



Series: chemical christmas 2020 [5]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ficlet, Fire Lord Zuko, Gen, chemical christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27872969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oldpapertowns/pseuds/oldpapertowns
Summary: Some days, Zuko feels his headpiece weighing him down, almost as if the lives his predecessors have taken, both human and dragon, are trying to get revenge.On those days, he avoids mirrors for fear of finding his father staring back at him, but that’s hard to do when the walls and floor of the palace are made out of the same reflective black stone.He tries regardless, fixing his eyes straight ahead of him and resolutely ignoring his surroundings.
Relationships: Toph & Zuko
Series: chemical christmas 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036416
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	please, won’t you let me go?

**Author's Note:**

> day 5 of chemical christmas - crown! prompt list by @saintmichale_ on instagram
> 
> title from ‘millennia’ by crown the empire (can you tell that i’m just searching up the prompt words and choosing a song from the results to find a title?)

Some days, Zuko feels his headpiece weighing him down, almost as if the lives his predecessors have taken, both human and dragon, are trying to get revenge.

On those days, he avoids mirrors for fear of finding his father staring back at him, but that’s hard to do when the walls and floor of the palace are made out of the same reflective black stone.

He tries regardless, fixing his eyes straight ahead of him and resolutely ignoring his surroundings. This works with… mixed results.

One day, he walks right past a green and yellow blur leaning against the wall, which is… off. And familiar. He doesn’t turn around, though, paranoia keeping him from glancing at the walls. This turns out to be a mistake, as something hits him in the head when he doesn’t look back.

“Sparky!” Toph bellows. “Get your ass back here!”

Zuko grinds to a stop and turns around 180 degrees, focusing on Toph’s face. “Hi, Toph.”

Toph frowns at him. “Did you not see me? I think I was pretty obvious.”

“No,” Zuko responds, eyes still fixed on hers. “I just, uh, have a meeting?”

“You’re lying,” Toph says. She’s right; Zuko doesn’t have any meetings scheduled for the rest of the day.

Zuko sighs. “Yeah. I just don’t like looking at reflective surfaces sometimes.”

“What does-” Toph breaks off, realization flashing across her face, then turns to the nearest guard. “Take us to the gardens, please.” The guard bows and starts heading towards the gardens, and Toph yanks on Zuko’s arm. “Close your eyes.”

Zuko does so, letting himself be led through the hallways he knows so well. After a bit of walking, there’s finally fresh air in his face. He opens his eyes to find Toph standing with her arms crossed, looking at him steadily. He sighs.

“What?”

“I’m guessing that you don’t like looking in mirrors because you think you look and feel like your dad,” Toph starts. Zuko barely has time to nod before she starts talking again. “Tell me, Sparky, do you think the Avatar would have considered him a friend?”

“Roku was friends with Sozin-” Zuko objects. Toph silences him with a glare.

“Look at how well that ended up! My point is, you wouldn’t have any friends if you were your father. Political allies who would be ready to stab you in the back at every turn maybe, but no real friends. Not like me or Aang or the rest of them.”

“I guess,” Zuko mutters, staring at the stone beneath his feet.

Toph snorts. “You guess. I’m right and you know it.” Her voice softens. “And for what it’s worth, you don’t remind me of your father at all. From what I’ve heard, he was a weird guy who couldn’t get anybody to marry him even though he was the Fire Lord.”

Zuko cracks a smile, ignoring the well-trained part of him that denies the description of his father. “That’s one way to put it.”

“It’s the truth,” Toph says bluntly. “And you’re not weird at all. At least, not in the tyrant way.”

Zuko’s mouth twitches. “Thanks, Toph.”

She punches him in the shoulder. “Don’t forget it. Are you ready to go back inside now? I want some bread.”

“Yeah.”

They walk back in, and when Zuko looks at the wall, he finds his own reflection staring back at him, tired but head held high.

Then Toph yanks at his arm and they head towards the kitchen to get her some bread.

**Author's Note:**

> tyty for reading!! feel free to leave your thoughts and/or kudos. stay safe, etc, ily


End file.
